Rare 17th century book

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Rupert Powell
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Rare 17th century book

Post by Rupert Powell » Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:22 am

I wonder if I might draw your attention to a copy of a rare 17th century book on Chess which will be coming up for sale in our auction of Fine Books and Works on Paper on Thursday 29th November. It is a 1673 (sixth) edition of the first published work on chess in English and written by an Englishman, Saul Arthur’s The Famous Game of Chesse-Play, 1673. Here is a link to the full description and an image: https://goo.gl/xEPJqY but please let me know if you would like further details and/or additional images.


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Nick Burrows
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Re: Rare 17th century book

Post by Nick Burrows » Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:31 am

I wonder why both queen pawns are missing from the board in the illustration?

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Michael Farthing
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Re: Rare 17th century book

Post by Michael Farthing » Tue Nov 13, 2018 12:04 pm

I was struck by the fact that the front cover answers a question raised on this forum a few months ago. Has white always made first move? The cover suggests that at the date of this book first move went to whoever touched a piece first.

Note to Rupert: Replies seem to be about chess trivia rather than the auction, but don't be put off - there are people here who might be interested. (I'd love to own the book but don't have the cash!)

David Sedgwick
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Re: Rare 17th century book

Post by David Sedgwick » Tue Nov 13, 2018 12:54 pm

Michael Farthing wrote:
Tue Nov 13, 2018 12:04 pm
I was struck by the fact that the front cover answers a question raised on this forum a few months ago. Has white always made first move? The cover suggests that at the date of this book first move went to whoever touched a piece first.
It was mentioned in a discussion about the Immortal Game, Anderssen - Kieseritsky 1851, that Anderssen had Black but moved first.

It has long been my understanding that in the Morphy - Anderssen Match of 1858 the players kept the same colour throughout but alternated the first move. Someone recently pointed out to me that when Black moved first that would have entailed the Black King starting on a Black sqaure and the Black Queen on a White square.

Nick Burrows wrote:
Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:31 am
I wonder why both queen pawns are missing from the board in the illustration?
To me that suggests that they had been removed for a drawing of lots, to determine who moved first, who had which colour, or both.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Rare 17th century book

Post by JustinHorton » Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:01 pm

I seem to remember my father having a facsimile of a book on the 1851 tournament and Black moving first in a lot of games.
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